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Women at risk for preterm delivery are frequently given glucocorticoids to prevent neonatal respiratory distress syndrome (RDS), necrotizing enterocolitis, intraventricular hemorrhage, and perinatal death. Betamethasone, the drug most commonly used for this purpose, is often administered weekly until 32 weeks' gestation or delivery. This steroid, 30 times as potent as hydrocortisone, puts mothers at risk for adrenal suppression. These authors used the ACTH stimulation test to determine the degree of adrenal suppression induced by betamethasone in 10 women at risk for preterm delivery. Each patient had 3 weekly, low-dose (1 mcg) ACTH stimulation tests, starting between 24 and 25 weeks' gestation. Immediately after the first and second tests,…